Format string in VB.NET ??

[Borry]

Hello everybody,


in VB6, I did the following :

myStr = format("hello","@@-@@-@") to receive this : he-ll-o

I really can't seem to find it in VB.NET

can anyone help me out please ??

Thanks a lot !

Bjorn

[Tryster]

Try String.Format

[Borry]

I've been trying it out but can't find a solution within the help

[Edneeis]

Format seem to mainly format things that aren't text into some form of text. There isn't much to change the look of things that already are text it seems. BUT you can make your own Formatter to handle it. I'll try and find or make an example real quick.

[Edneeis]

'in the application
        Dim myStr As String = "hello"
        myStr = String.Format(New AlphaFormat("@@-@@-@"), "{0} is how it looks in the new format", myStr)
        'can also do it like this:
        'myStr = String.Format(New AlphaFormat(), "{0:@@-@@-@} is how it looks in the new format", myStr)
        MsgBox(myStr)
 
'the format class
Public Class AlphaFormat
    Implements IFormatProvider
    Implements ICustomFormatter
 
    Private _format As String
 
    ' String.Format calls this method to get an instance of an ICustomFormatter to handle the formatting.
    Public Function GetFormat(ByVal service As Type) As Object Implements IFormatProvider.GetFormat
 
        If service.ToString() = GetType(ICustomFormatter).ToString() Then
            Return Me
        Else
            Return Nothing
        End If
    End Function
 
    ' After String.Format gets the ICustomFormatter, it calls this format method on each argument.
    Public Function Format(ByVal theformat As String, ByVal arg As Object, ByVal provider As IFormatProvider) As String _
    Implements ICustomFormatter.Format
 
        If theformat Is Nothing Then
            'use _format
            theformat = _format
        End If
 
        If theformat Is Nothing Then
            Return String.Format("{0}", arg)
        End If
 
        If Not theformat.StartsWith("@") Then
            ' If the object to be formatted supports the IFormattable interface, then pass the format specifier to the objects ToString method for formatting.
            If TypeOf arg Is IFormattable Then
                Return CType(arg, IFormattable).ToString(Format, provider)
            End If
            ' If the object does not support IFormattable, then call the objects ToString method with no additional formatting. 
        ElseIf (arg Is Nothing) Then
            Return arg.ToString()
        End If
 
        Dim output As String
        Dim c As Char
        Dim cnt As Integer = 1
        For Each c In theformat
            If c = "@" Then
                If arg.length >= cnt Then
                    c = Mid(arg, cnt)
                    cnt += 1
                End If
            End If
            If c <> "@" Then
                output &= c
            End If
        Next
 
        Return output
    End Function
 
    Public Sub New(ByVal format As String)
       mybase.New()
        _format = format
    End Sub
 
   Public Sub New()
       mybase.New()
    End Sub
 
End Class